Hang Gliding OrgWelcome to the worlds largest hang gliding community2018-05-24T13:27:32-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/app.php/feed2018-05-24T13:27:32-04:002018-05-24T13:27:32-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36010&p=403569#p403569 I had a lot of fun flying that Falcon.

]]>2018-05-24T12:09:47-04:002018-05-24T12:09:47-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36010&p=403568#p403568Statistics: Posted by BillyTheKid90 — Thu May 24, 2018 12:09 pm
]]>2018-05-23T12:32:47-04:002018-05-23T12:32:47-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36010&p=403567#p403567Welcome to the sandbox! Be among friends here.

Very similar but stronger than the big Falcon is the Falcon Tandem. It's one more option in the big glider choices. Been flying HG for decades, and lately I bought a Falcon Tandem for myself, on the light days. Nobody ever out-grows a Falcon, but their ego might.

Ask if the HG schools there have the gliders needed for the big guys. Flying a too-small glider can be a busy experience, especially in HG lessons. The right sized glider for you will be much more reasonable, for learning.

Just one old HG instructor to anybody listening, I strongly recommend this "HG ground school," before and even during HG lessons. You can DIY with any reasonably experienced pilot helping with the printout, using any ragged-out old HG.

]]>2018-05-23T10:00:35-04:002018-05-23T10:00:35-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=36010&p=403565#p403565I am new to the forum.

I live about 30minutes away from Lookout Flight Park in Trenton, GA. I have been around flying my entire life but have recently wanted to get into Hang Gliders. I am a rather large fellow... 6' 275LBS. It looks like I would end up needing a tandem wing to have the weight capability for me. Is there such a wing for beginners? I have searched around on the inter webs and have found the North Wing Freedom 220, but don't want to get into something that I can't learn and train on.

It's even worse, I live in the Netherlands, there are no mountains/hills at all. We do aerotow every now and then, but mostly/only weekends. Guess what, statistically most of the good weather days are during the week For some mountain flying the closest site is 6h drive.

Luckily you got back into the sport! how much airtime are you getting when not living in the West?

Very little, but that's mostly my fault. There are several guys in these parts who get around 100 hours a year. Plenty of 100 mile+ XC flights. At least 90% of all flying in my area occurs at two aerotowing operations. Winter here is freezing with snow; mid-summer isn't consistently good because the air is hot, humid, and stable until fronts pass through. To make a long story short, all foot-launching sites are essentially closed or bandito.But hey, isn't just about everything legal in the Netherlands?

]]>2018-05-23T02:57:07-04:002018-05-23T02:57:07-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35991&p=403563#p403563These are not insurmountable, but it certainly raises the bar as far as a level of dedication goes.

Having said all that (for the millionth time) the original point of my post was that we, as a community, are faced with a significant societal change. Another blatant example of my main point here is the Liberty Insurance commercial where the mom is so grateful that an insurance company "saved" her teenage son from a flat tire???

Seriously? Try to imagine the reception that this commercial would have received 20, 30 years ago. Hell, 10 years ago? I can remember my dad making me change a tire in the dark with no flash light when I was 15. (Yeah, I knew what a lug wrench was.) The fact that this commercial has been running for well over a year only re-enforces my main point.

The bottom line is that the gene pool for prospective hang glider pilots has been shrinking for a generation or more. We are competing with other (I never refer to hg as extreme) activities with a seriously declining number of prospects.

When you combine this with the perspective that hg is harder, takes more time, is more of a logistical hassle and cost too much, it is understandable that there are fewer younger hang glider pilots.

So I'll say again that it is up to every single one of us to seek out and mentor anyone who is even a little interested in what we do. We as a community need to help as much as we can others to get into hang gliding. That means removing or reducing as many of the barriers as we can. This can be making equipment available as cheaply as possible, giving up flying days to spend time with newbies and simply taking the time to talk to those who asks us questions.

I know they are out there. I just spent an hour with a young guy who is really interested. I gave him my number, he knows where we fly and I told him that all he needs to do is show up one afternoon in the LZ for his first lesson. I even have my old single surface that he can have to train with as well as a training harness. I really think, hope, that he will make the commitment. I am committed to him.

Why (young) people abandon the sport? Same as above plus it's really hard to combine with a social live since weather forecast is not much reliable anything over 2-3 days in advance makes planning stuff in advance a b*tch.. At least if you're trying to get some proper airtime and not just 2 weeks during the summer

You must not live out west. I did for 20 years. Much less fickle weather, some sites/regions soarable far more days than not 9 months of the year. I'm back in the midwest, hopefully not for too long. Weather forecasting here is a joke. Aerotowing has sure helped things, and there's some great mountains to fly like Tennessee, but the weather rarely allows for many good flying days in a row. Sucks. I've semi-abandonded the sport since returning but know I'll never quit.

It's even worse, I live in the Netherlands, there are no mountains/hills at all. We do aerotow every now and then, but mostly/only weekends. Guess what, statistically most of the good weather days are during the week For some mountain flying the closest site is 6h drive.

Luckily you got back into the sport! how much airtime are you getting when not living in the West?

Why (young) people abandon the sport? Same as above plus it's really hard to combine with a social live since weather forecast is not much reliable anything over 2-3 days in advance makes planning stuff in advance a b*tch.. At least if you're trying to get some proper airtime and not just 2 weeks during the summer

You must not live out west. I did for 20 years. Much less fickle weather, some sites/regions soarable far more days than not 9 months of the year. I'm back in the midwest, hopefully not for too long. Weather forecasting here is a joke. Aerotowing has sure helped things, and there's some great mountains to fly like Tennessee, but the weather rarely allows for many good flying days in a row. Sucks. I've semi-abandonded the sport since returning but know I'll never quit.

Trying to learn to fly in mid-air is the problem here, really. If the HG Simulator does not respond properly to the student's "control moves," then the control moves are not correct, and the student has no business on a hill that large. Chalk up one near-disaster for the instructor. This is the fix for that problem:

Thank you for the links. Looks like you went to BlueSky in Manquin , VA?

That's where I am going to take my first lesson in 2 weeks.

Yup. Blue Sky is awesome. Steve has a great setup there and knows his stuff. Just listen, ask questions, and have fun. And if you stick with the sport, be patient. Steve will want you to show consistency at your current level before allowing you to advance, which is a smart and safe way to do things.

David

Yes, I agree. I intend to take my time and make sure I really learn everything to the point where I can do things naturally.

]]>2018-05-22T16:22:01-04:002018-05-22T16:22:01-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35972&p=403558#p403558Statistics: Posted by wblvizion — Tue May 22, 2018 4:22 pm
]]>2018-05-22T16:04:47-04:002018-05-22T16:04:47-04:00http://forum.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.php?t=35991&p=403557#p403557Why (young) people abandon the sport? Same as above plus it's really hard to combine with a social live since weather forecast is not much reliable anything over 2-3 days in advance makes planning stuff in advance a b*tch.. At least if you're trying to get some proper airtime and not just 2 weeks during the summer